Rapid-fire gun



C. W. LANG.

RAPID FIRE GUN.-

Patented Feb. 3,1920.

5 SHEETSSHEEI 1- APPLICATION FILED FEB-26.

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Patented Feb. 3,1920.

5 SHEETSSHEE,T 2-

C. W. LANG.

RAPID FIRE GUN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 1917. 1,329,979.

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RAPID FIRE GUN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-26.1917.

Patented Feb. 3,1920.

5 SHEETSSHEET 3.

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BAPID FIRE GUN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26,1917- Patented .Feb; 3, 1920.

5 SHEETS-SHEEI 4.

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RAPID FIRE GUN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26,1917.

Patented Feb. 3, 1920.

5 SHEETSSHEET 5.

UNITED STATES PATN oniuon.

CHARLES ELINGTON LANG, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

" RAPID-FIRE GUN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 3, 1920.

Original application filed Kay 16, 1916, Serial No. 97,886. Divided and this application filed February 26,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, CHARLES W. LANG, a

citizen of the United States, and resident. of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulI nprovements in Rapid-Fire Guns, of which the following is a specification.

This application is divided out of my pending application filed May 16th, 1916, Serial No. 97,886, and relates particularly to magazines and their associated parts, and while embodying features of novelty Whlch are adapted, severally and collectively, for embodiment in various types of automatic firearms, is designed primarily for and will be herein illustrated as embodied in a rifle caliber rapid fire gun adapted to be operated semi-automatically, or with full automatic rapid fire at will;

Some features of the invention relate to the general construction and assembly of themagazine, whereby the construction of the magazine as a whole is simplified, the. assembly and disassembly of its parts is more convenient, and the parts, therefore, made more readily replaceable.

For the purpose of making known the underlying principles as well as the characteristics of structure and cooperative relationship which identify the various features of the invention, reference will be made to the embodiment disclosed in the drawings forming part of this specification.

But while this embodiment of the invention involves numerous structural details that are claimed as new per sc, such details are to be taken as illustrative merely, and not as definitive of the scope of the invention, which is rather to be gathered from the lan guage of the claims.

In said drawings 7 Figures 1 and 1 together show the complete gun in side elevation, with the magazine mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is a rear end view of: the gun with its magazine mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is a perspective. View of the magazine latch releasing lever;

Fig. 2 is a sectional detail. new of the throat of the receiver and the magazine latch mounted thereon;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of'a portion of th gun;

v Fig. 4 1s a vertical section of the-magazine Serial No. 151,026. a

V Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectionof the magazine; V

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the magazine rotor with the spiral groove that receives the arresting stop;

Fig; 7 is an axial section through the fixed and rotatingparts of the magazine andthe stop for limiting rotation thereof;

Fig. 8 is a detail view of the indicator;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a magazine charger, adapted to be applied to the magazine whenthe latter is removed from the gun and inverted;

Fig. 10 is a rear elevation of the same;

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the basethereof; 7 1

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the finger fed follower for expelling the cartridges from the runway of the; charger, through the gate of the magazine;

Fig. 13 is a detail view, showing the sectional structure of the runway; and

t Fig. 1a is a bottom plan view of the magazlne. V p

The primary object of the invention is to provide an efficient magazine of the rotary hopper type, of comparatively simple construction, and to these ends, one feature consists in providing uponthe forward end of the receiver 1, a magazine table 2 having bayonet'joint locking lugs .3 for engaging a magazine by rotary movement of the latter; and inclined faces 4 which will serve to lift the magazine and detach it from the table by a reverse rotation; also in roviding the magazine 5 with lugs 6 adapted to engage beneath the table lugs 3 and having inclined faces 7 adapted to coact with the faces 4 on the table. Interengaging lips S on the magazine and l on the receiver adjacent to the communicating throatsof these two members, prevent lifting of the magazine and the separation of these throats when they are turned into interlocked position. And a further feature in this connection consists in means for locking the magazine against rotation inthe direction to unlock it from the table, which means consists in a vertical latching bolt 9 pressed upward by spring lO'and having an inclined upper end that engages in first one and then the other of the inclined notches 10 and 10 of the magazine, and permits the latter to ride over the bolt and engage behind it; also a releasing cam 11 having an end 12 that overlies a'shoulder 13 of the bolt 9, so that when said cam is rotated by its lever 14-, presented within convenient reach of the gunner as shown in Fig. 2, the bolt is withdrawn and the magazine may be rotated in the direction to release it. Cam 11 is conveniently secured in position by a pin 15, sunk into the wall of the receiver and engaging in the groove 16 of the cam.

A further object is to provide a construction of magazine that will'receive and feed cartridges in a spiral series and positively force them toward the throat of the receiver, to which end another feature consists in providing the magazine with a base 17 that carries the attaching lugs 6 and affords the bottom upon which the cartridges are delivered; said base being surmounted by a central fixed core 18 formed with a spiral groove '19, in which the points of the cartridges may travel, and a spiral guideway 20 for a follower 21 to be described. The fixed core 18 is constructed in the form of a spring box :22 to receive a helical plate spring 23 anchored at its outer end to the fixed core at 24, and having a driving connection 25 at its inner end with the shaft 26 of the inner shell 27 of the magazine, which is securely riveted to and driven by the shaft 26, and which, therefore, constitutes the rotor of the magazine. The rotor is provided with a depending annular flange 28, carrying inwardly extending partitions 29 which provide cartridge stalls to receive the larger ends of the cartridges, and, these partitions 29 are formed adjacent to the rotor flange which carries them, with r cesses 30 or other means conforming to the necks or flanges of the cartridges, in order to definitel en a 'e the ends of the car y D b tridges and hold them against movement in a horizontal plane so long as, they are under control of the partitions. An essential characteristic of the stalls formed by the partitions 29 and their structural feature which adapts them to interlock with the butt end one, to the closing breech block Without the.

complication of special feeding means ordinarily required for insuring the individual entry of the cartridges in proper position. That is to say, by having the point of each cartridge retarded with relation to its butt in reaching the arresting ledges of the receiver threat 1-, which support the cartridge through the medium of its shell, this shell or portion of the cartridge by which it is to be arrested, will reach the ledges before the point has had time to drop down into the receiver, and thus the vertical tipping of the cartridge is, prevented. A further advantage of this backward inclination of the points "of the cartridges is that their flanges are stepped and they will lie closer together and in better relation to restrain each one its follower.

l A further feature of the improved magazine consists in providing the follower 21 with an embracing ring segment 32, by which it is adapted to travel in the spiral guide 20, and with an end 33 entering one of the cartridge stalls so as to insure rotation of the follower; this follower being provided with a pusher s4 hinged thereon at 35 in position to ride upon the bottom 36 of the magazine and insure feed of the last cartridge down into the throat of the receiver 1.

37 represents a gate pivoted at 38 and adapted to be closed by a spring 39 to interrupt the escape of cartridges from the magazine. A heel a0 encounters the wall of the receiver 1, as shown in Fi 4, when the magazine is in place and holds the gate open. But whenever the magazine is removed from the gun, the gate automatically closes to prevent the escape of any cartridges remaining therein.

41 represents a rotary counter having figures adapted to be exposed through a window 42 in the casing of the magazine and adapted to be rotated by pins 43 on the rotor, of, which there may be any desired number, the figures on the counter indicating multiples of cartridges that have passed into or out of the magazine, and consequently the number remaining therein.

The follower 21 may serve as the stop to arrest movement of the rotor 27, under the action ofits spring 23, but I prefer to employ a special stop for this purpose which will. act upon the rotor with an increasing leverage as the magazine is being charged, and which by following in a spiral path in the rotor, can be given the requisite travel to permit several revolutions of the rotor requisite for a large capacity for shells. To this end, an arm 44 pivoted at 45 to the rotor and having a pin 46 adapted to swing the radius. slot 47, enters the spiral groove in the disk 48 which is non-rotatablv secured by lugs L9 to the fixed core or spring bOX; 'By this arrangement, the pin 46 reaches the outer end of the spiral groove 50 under the winding action of the spring developed by forcing cartridges inte the magazine, and thus acts upon a greater leverage of radial distance in resisting this forcible introduction of cartridges, and it encounters the inner end of the spiral groove under the unwinding action of the spring which is of comparatively low'power when thus unwound.

A further object is to provide a suitable means for charging the magazine, and to these ends, a further feature consists in providing a plate 51 having bayonet lock openings 52 adapted to coact with the lugs 6 of the magazine precisely as does the magazine table on the reeciver; also a delivery hood 53 adapted tooverlie the magazine throat when the magazine is removed from the gun and in inverted position, and interlock therewith by a rotary movement simulating the rotary interlock between the magazine and the gun, and having the lip 54 to engage with the lip 8 on the magazine precisely as does the lip 1 of the receiver throat and for the same purpose, a vertical runway 55 extending upwardly from said hood53, and suitably constructed as suggested at 56 to engage the heads of the cartridges to confine them against lateral displacement in the runway; also displacing follower 57 having a finger hold 58 by which it may be forcibly depressed to expel cartridges from the runway through the hood and into the magazine, and constructed with a T-head' 59 for guiding it in said runway. A latch lever 60, normally depressed by. a spring 61 and having a lug 62, resists rotation of the magazine charger relatively to the magazine, just as the latch bolt prevents unlocking rotation of the magazine upon the magazine table.

I claim 1. A magazine for guns comprising a rotor constructed to engage cartridges and ad vance them laterally, a feed throat to which said rotor delivers the cartridges, and a feed spring for driving said rotor; saidrotor being provided with inwardly extending partition walls dividing its circumferential space into stalls adapted to receive the cartridges; said stalls extending vertically a distance to accommodate a plurality of cartridges, sothat the stalls collectively sustain the cartridges in a plurality of superposed layers, and said stalls being adapted to discharge their contained cartridges at the bottom of each stall; said magazine having a follower rotating with the rotor and constructed with a pusher that advances the cartridges after they fall below the parti tion walls.

2. A magazine for guns comprising a rotor constructed toengage cartridges and ad vance them laterally, a feed throat to which said rotor delivers the cartridges, and a feed spring for driving said rotor; said rotor being provided with inwardly extending partition walls dividing its circumferential space into stalls adapted to receive the car tridges; said stalls extending vertically a distance to accommodate a plurality of cartridges, so that the stalls collectively sustain the cartridges in a plurality of superposed layers, and said stalls being adapted to discharge their contained cartridges at the bottom of each stall; said magazine having a follower rotating with the rotor and constructed with a pusher that advances the cartridges after they fall below the partition walls; said pusher being adapted to enter the throat of the magazine and resist further rotation of the rotor.

3. A magazine for guns comprising a rotor constructed to engage cartridges and advance them laterally, a feed throat to which said rotor delivers the cartridges, and a feed spring for driving said rotor; said rotor being providedwith inwardly extending partition walls dividing its circumferential space into stalls adapted to receive the cartridges; said stalls extending vertically a distance to accommodate a plurality of cartridges, so that the stalls collectively sustain the cartridges in a plurality of superposed layers, and said stalls being adapted to dischar e their contained cartridges at the botom of each stall; said magazine having a follower rotating with the rotor and constructed with a pusher that advances the cartridges after they fall below the partition walls; said magazine having a core constructed with a spiral groove receiving and supporting the ends of the cartridges, and said follower having a spirally arranged track upon the core.

at. A magazine for guns comprising a rotor constructed to engage cartridges and advance them laterally, a feed throat to which said rotor delivers the cartridges, and a feed spring for driving said rotor; said rotor being provided (with inwardly extending partition walls dividing its circumferential space into stalls adapted to receive the cartridges; said stalls extending vertically a distance to accommodate a plurality of cartridges, so that the stalls collectively sustain the cartridges in a plurality of superposed layers, and said stalls being adapted to discharge their co'ntained cartridges at the bottom of each stall; said magazine having a follower rotating with the rotor and constructed with a pusher that advances" the cartridges after they fall below the parti CHARLES WELINGTON LANG. 

